There is so much to be said about New England hospitality with this extended family.  I met Erin and Ryan last year while photographing Kate and Kevin’s wedding (and here).  As a people photographer, there is very little that’s more important than the chemistry I have with my clients.  Chemistry with Erin was immediate and we kept in touch after I returned to the south.  A few months passed and I received exciting news from Erin that Ryan proposed!  This girl was so completely ecstatic that every other sentence in her email ended with an exclamation point.  Like this!  And this!!!

I was thrilled that Erin and Ryan wanted to invite me back to New England to photograph their summer wedding this year.  I was counting down the days until reunion while Erin and Ryan were counting down the days until they say I do.  Yes, I love my clients so much that I happily think about them all the time.  Like, every day.  On the flip side, how incredible is it that Ryan himself picked me up at the airport? I was expecting to catch a cab or hitch a ride with Uncle Bob, but Erin and Ryan arranged everything to the tee that all I had to do was show up and look pretty.  Oh, and take pictures.

When I meet people like Erin, Ryan, and their families, how can I not be grateful to call this my life?  I live, I love, I shoot, and I play.  I do all of those every time I click my shutter.  Yes I eat too, but I usually have to put down my camera for that.

Thank you Erin and Ryan for going the extra nine yards to have me at your wedding.  You’ve come a long way since high school dances, and now have the rest of your life is be dance partners.  Much love to the both of you!

A chill Erin getting her makeup done…

Erin’s bridesmaid, the gorgeous Robyn is a bride-to-be too.  I feel lucky for her photographer already.

I love this image of Erin and Kate in the background.  So ethereal.

Ryan’s first look at his bride…

Fabulous in blue.

My weekend job is shooting for GQ magazine.  No I’m kidding.

Humorous and emotional toasts are my favorite.

My and Marc are from different bay areas, so they coordinated a cute bay to bay theme to personalize their engagement pictures.  It had been raining all week but we took a chance anyway and started off in downtown Tampa and ended near the water to catch the beautiful sunset.  We braved through the typical Florida humidity, untimely sun showers, an approaching storm, and dodged the weekend crowd of people everywhere.  We made the best of it and found interesting nooks to shoot in.  The light was still amazing and even the rainclouds made a few dramatic appearances.

I love the look that ambient light produces, and couldn’t ask for a better time of day to shoot.  Kudos to My and Marc for all the planning!

Hello hot stuff!

Marc is founder of an architecture firm based in San Francisco.  The luggage was quite fitting.

One minute the sky is gray and cloudless, the next minute, blue and bright.

Sometimes, I demand such ridiculous things from my couples.  Oh, say… make out in the middle of the street.

Hisako and Sonny married in California last year and I couldn’t be more thrilled to meet up with them for an anytime session.  Hisako and I used to have classes together at USF and hung out together with many mutual friends.  We’d bump into each other from time to time at different events and she’s always a bright face in the crowd.  See, when you have lots of mutual friends, news travels fast.  Before I knew it, Hisako and Sonny were hitched.  Sonny’s great reputation preceded him, but it wasn’t until I hung out with them alone did I witness for myself the gentle husband he is to Hisako.

Sonny has made Hisako the happiest I have ever known her to be.  Even though they are often separated by long distance, the warmth and comfort they bring to each other is completely easy, true, and real.  It’s simple, and so sweet.

Either Sonny is really good at making his wife laugh, or I’m a funny looking photographer.  Or maybe it’s my corny jokes.

They changed into USF gear to rep their alma mater.  Go Bulls!

My favorite picture of Hisako…

Two of my closest friends got engaged to each other this past month.  We’ve known each other for just a few years, but have gone through volumes and volumes of personal struggles, failures, and triumphs together.  I was there in the beginning of their relationship, completely oblivious of their courtship.  Now I had the honor of being the only witness of their beautiful and intimate proposal.

It started when Tony called me a few weeks ago to tell me his plans of surprising Trinh with a lifestyle session where she goes to Optometry school in Philly.  A week later, he called again to reveal that he was actually going to propose in the middle of their session and enlisted my help to set it up.  How thoughtful is that?  Little did Trinh know, their lifestyle session was Tony’s ingenious idea to coverup the proposal, and have it documented at the same time.

To say that their love is passionate is an understatement.  Simply put, they love hard.  No matter the tribulations, they continue to make it work to be with each other.  Sometimes their moments are full of laughter, sometimes their moments are subtle and quiet.  It’s obvious that Tony adores Trinh for everything she is.  One bat of the eyes and he’s happily smitten all over again.  They count on each other for total support even when they don’t always agree.  Two completely different halves, one perfect whole.

I love surprising people and can come up with so many scenarios to execute a surprise.  I’m not a very good liar, but I have very tight lips.  After an emergency change of flight, I left for the airport to Philly with two hours notice.  At that moment, I thought to myself, this is the exact lifestyle I want — to pack my bags and leave for some destination whenever, to wherever.  And yes, I do work for good food and company!  Mmmm… I’m still thinking about Pat’s cheesesteaks, Korean food, and board games every night.  Catan rematch, guys?

We started at the park to get them warmed up and mushy.  Some of my favorite relaxed moments…

We had to bust out the wine to loosen them up.  Relaxation straight out of a glass bottle.

Right before he proposed, Tony read Trinh a poem he wrote…

I do…

An emotional Tony and Trinh…

This has to be my favorite picture.  It’s SO them.  Happy, giddy, goofy, and totally into each other.

My cousin Kenny is quite a character.  When we were young, he used to get me into trouble without regret, even when I was wailing in defense.  Then he and his family moved to Brooklyn, New York the summer of 1992.  I was 8 years old.  I remember standing beside my grandparents in the garage at an hour just break of dawn, waving to the three of my cousins and my uncle and aunt as they departed from us for the second time in my life.

When I left home for college ten years later, my cousin Kenny was the only one who verbally challenged me to become my own person, to follow my own dreams even if it meant to make mistakes.  He encouraged me to be independent.  He encouraged me to fail on my own, and succeed on my own.  He told me that being practical was overrated, and that I would regret if I don’t put dreams before dollar signs.

I met Donna in 2006, the first year of what would become an annual 4th of July visit to see Kenny in Daytona Beach.  Donna would end up to be the most encouraging, #1 agent, a.k.a. Future Sister/Cousin In Law an aspiring photographer could ever ask for.  She spread my name like wildfire to the point where I couldn’t even walk into their holiday house parties without being recognized as “the amazing photographer who can make a Coca-Cola bottle look amazing”.  I digress.  I don’t think I’m that photographer, at least not yet.

The story here is… I never thought I would be so close to my cousin.  I’m the eldest of my siblings, and Kenny is like my big brother.  And even though I never admit it to him, he is one of the most influential people in my life.  He was the one who taught me how to drive in his brand new Corolla he had just gotten the day earlier.  He was the one who flew me to New York the winter of 2000 even though he was just scraping by doing work study for Embry Riddle.  He was the one who let me borrow money to cover my ass because I wanted to spend all my school loans on a puppy my freshmen year of college.

Kenny is caring, funny, considerate, and makes the corniest jokes of anyone I know.  And Donna makes him shine a million times brighter than he already is.

I’m proud to be their family.  I’m proud to say that I’ve seen them at their brightest, funniest, and corniest.  I’m proud of Donna for accepting him for all his corniness and making him a better man.  I’m proud of my cousin for living up to be the role model that he’s always been to me.

Ralph Lauren campaign.  Totally…

The real Kenny..

Click to view the slideshow.  Music by Josh Kelley.